■Essential Question:–What led to the end of the Cold War?

■Warm Up Question:

In the 1940s, 50s, & 60s the USA fought to contain communism throughout the world

The USA & Soviet Union

engaged in the Cold War from 1945 to 1991

In the 1970s, U.S. détente policy ended as the USSR

invaded Afghanistan

In the 1980s, two new leaders changed the direction of the Cold War: U.S. President

Ronald Reagan & Soviet leader Mikhail GorbachevReagan took a

strong stand against communism &

the Soviet UnionReagan referred to the Soviet Union as an

“evil empire”

He sent over 500 ICMBs to Western Europe to protect NATO allies

Reagan’s goal was to win the Cold War & restore America’s position as a dominant super power

He spent $2 trillion to increase the size of the

American military

Reagan’s most ambitious program was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), called Star Wars, to protect

the U.S. from Soviet nuclear attacks

In the 1980s, two new leaders changed the direction of the Cold War: U.S. President

Ronald Reagan & Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev

The Soviet government restricted freedom of

speech & did not allow democratic elections so no alternative opinions

were offered

Soviet leaders faced the impossible task

of competing with SDI & taking the arms race

into space

Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1982 at a

time when the USSR was facing serious problems

The USSR spent 50% of its budget on the military, was fighting an expensive war in Afghanistan, & maintained troops and tanks in Eastern

Europe

Soviet socialism did not offer incentives for hard work; By the 1980s, the USSR had low industrial & agricultural production

Gorbachev began three major reforms to save the communist system in the Soviet Union

Gorbachev introduced glasnost (“openness”) to encourage freedom of

speech & to allow expression of new ideas Perestroika relaxed some gov’t controls over farms

and factories to make production more efficient

& it allowed citizens to open small businesses

Democratization allowed citizens to vote for

Communist politicians (but Communists only)'Be Bold, Comrade! Openness: Our Strength!'

“Don't Be Afraid of Work.”

In addition to his economic reforms, Gorbachev changed Soviet foreign policy

Reagan’s SDI plan forced Gorbachev to admit that the USSR could not keep

up with the arms race

Gorbachev withdrew Soviet tank divisions from the communist

nations in Eastern EuropeIn 1989, Gorbachev

ended the 9 year war in Afghanistan

Reagan was able to work with Gorbachev to reduce

Cold War tensions

In 1987, Reagan & Gorbachev agreed to end all medium-range ICBMs

Rather than saving the communist system in the USSR & Eastern Europe, Gorbachev’s

reforms helped bring an end to communism

In 1989, a surge of democratic revolution swept through the Eastern European communist satellites

Gorbachev did not use the Soviet military to stop

these revolutions

Eastern European nations broke from Soviet control & created

democracies

In November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down signaling the end of the

Cold War

Ethnic nationalism & desire for democracy led to the break-up of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991

In 1990, the Soviet states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

declared independence from the Soviet Union

In 1991, the Soviet Union broke apart & 15 new nations

were formed

The break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of

an era.

Cold War Political Cartoon Analysis ■Cartoon analysis:–Working with a partner, examine each

of the following four Cold War political cartoons–For each cartoon, identify what the

artist’s message is –Find at least one fact from your notes

that supports the main idea of the political cartoon